Emily Benn, Labour councillor for West Thornton, tweeted just before 7am: “This is now beyond a joke. Norwood junction at a standstill, can only see cancellations and delays.”
Hon Emily Benn, grand-daughter of the late Labour peer Tony Wedgwood Benn, Viscount Stansgate, has been selected as the party candidate in Croydon South. She is standing against a Tory who was educated at state school . Benn, if successful, will be the fifth generation of her family to make a career in politics.

The family gathered for a private family funeral at Holy Trinity Church in Stourpaine, Dorset.

A Falcon 50EX. I need a small plane just to get out of the British Virgin Islands. And I use that for shorter distances. [Branson had owned a Falcon 900EX but sold it not long ago.—Ed.]
26 apr 14 luton M-VGIN FA50EX-a17:43-d23:42

Mark and Caroline Kennedy

[April 24]

Camilla Parker Bowles’ brother Mark Shand has died after suffering a serious head injury after falling following a night out in New York. Mr Shand collapsed close to the Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel. While one source told us Shand had been drinking, another source added, “He had been taking blood pressure medication and had experienced some dizzy spells.” At approximately 0240 hours, Mark Shand attempted to re-enter the hotel through the revolving doors; Mark Shand unexpectedly fell backwards, striking his head on the pavement. The incident was also captured on the hotel’s video surveillance system. He died in the city’s Bellevue hospital at about noon on April 23. He is survived by his ex-wife Clio, a French actress and niece of Sir James Goldsmith,and daughter Ayesha, 19.

Amanda Thatcher is a University of Richmond freshman from Dallas, where her mother, the first wife of Thatcher’s son, Mark, lives.
Amanda Thatcher is on the UR track and field team, according to the Richmond Spiders website. As a high-school senior, she won a district title in the 300-meter hurdles to qualify for Texas regional finals and recorded a top time of 45.4 seconds in the event along with a personal-best leap of 35 feet, 4 inches in the triple jump.
Her name appears on a petition protesting UR’s decision last fall to cut men’s track and soccer, and she was inducted this month into Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society.

Few protests , little violence at Thatcher funeral

Alexandra’s Palace, London during Thatcher funeral

[april 15]

Opponents of the late Margaret Thatcher are taking a kind of musical revenge on the former prime minister, pushing the song “Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead” up the British charts in a posthumous protest over her polarizing policies.

Police have urged people planning to disrupt the funeral to contact them so that lawful protests can be organised, a pro-active tactic used successfully during last year’s Olympic Games in London.
[April 14]
Metal barriers are seen as only a deterant and not likely to stop determined protest groups which police say could be hijacked by one of four recognised anarchist and anti-austerity groups hell bent on using the event
A whole police unit has been monitoring social-media for hints of trouble and so far have noted groups involved in running battles with police in 2009 during austerity protests have again been rallying supporters for a day of action.
Businesses and shops along the route have also been asked to be “eyes and ears” for anything suspicious in the days leading up to the event.
A tactical group is being based on the River Thames to quickly deploy to any outbreak in trouble and are being kept in small units in side streets all of which will be blocked.Former senior police officer Roger Gomm said searches of the route are expected with manhole covers and letter boxes checked and sealed.

The security operation, the biggest since the London Olympics, will involve hundreds of police officers standing along the entire route which will go into lockdown at least four hours before the procession on Wednesday. All leave has been cancelled and extra troops have been brought in for local constabularies outside London.

They will be supported by mounted police unit, the police air helicopters and tactical riot squads.